Improvement in miners  lamps



l. s. SOMMERVILLE. Lamp.

No. 90,967. Patented June 8, 1869.

1 I I l Wifvesses: Inuerfior:

--To all whom it may concern with the lid raised, to show the interior thereof.

vseparateiigures, denote like parts in all of the drawimpossible to burn petroleum or such like fluid, from was to be resupplied with such highly-flammable and replenishing the lamp, to guair against accidental lamp; and

' closed at its bottom, so as to be isolated from the ex terior case; and

client dtflflitr.

JOHN S. SOMMERVILLE, OF-SNOW SHOE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 90,967, dated J mac 8, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN MINERS LAMPS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

Be it known that I, JOHN S. SOMERVILLE, of Snow Shoe, in the county of Centre, and State of Pennsyl- Vania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Miners Lamps, designed for burning petroleum' or other flammable hydrocarbon-fluids; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making a partof this specification, in which- Fignre 1 represents a perspective view of the lamp,

Figure 2 represents a vertical section through the lamp.

Figure 3 represents, in perspective, the interior removablecylinder detached from the lamp.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the ings.

In miners lamps, as heretofore constructed, it is the liability of the fluid or its gases to ignite by filling or supplying the lamp, and from the agitation the lamp is subjected to in carrying it about with the user;

and it was found particularly objectionable, in such a lamp, to put out the flame and light when the lamp The object and purpose of my invention are to enable miners to use the cheap fluids now so much in common use, and with entire safety from ignition or explosion, and without extinguishi g the flame, when burning of the fluid or its gas in the interior of the My invention consists, first, in arranging within the. lamp a permanent cylinder, or chamber, from which the wick-tube extends to the exterior of the lamp, and which cylinder, or chamber is open at its top, but

My invention further consists in combining, with a cylinder in the interior of the lamp, a removable invertcd cylinder, or chamber, for containing cotton or other material, saturated, or charged with the burning-fluid that is used in the lamp, so that said fluid is out 01f, or shut off from any accidental ignition from the flame of the lamp.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

The exterior, A, of the lamp is substantially like an ordinary lamp, having a tube, B, attached to it, in the ordinary way, as also a lid, 0, and the usual hook, I), for attaching it to the person of the miner or elsewhere.

Within this exterior vessel, or can A, there is attached permanenntly a cylinder, E, with a wick-tube,

F, connected to it, which wick-tube F extends up.

through the tube, or spout B, with space a a a, 850., between said exterior and interior cylinders and spouts, or wick-tubes, as shown in fig. 2, which separates the interior of one shell, or jacket A from the interior of der G has a portioncut away, as seen at c, fig. 3, so that it may come down over, and in contact, or nearly so, with the wick cl, that passes up through the wick-tube To charge the lamp with the petroleum or other hydrocarbon-fluid, the cylinder G is drawn up, and out of the lamp. It is then filledwith cotton, 0, or other absorbing-material, which is saturated, or charged with the fluid, and then turned with its open end downward, and so inserted into the cylinder E, bringing the saturated'material in contact with the wick d, and the latter, taking up the fluid, carries it up to the top of the wick-tube, where it'is burned.

The lamp can be replenished without extinguishing the light, or its light, and without danger'of ignition or explosiomas the cylinder G is taken entirely out of and away from the lamp, and its contents recharged with the fluid, and then replaced in the lamp again; and the wick d is sufliciently charged with the fluid to continue to supply the flame While the cotton is being recharged with burning-fluid. And if even any of the fluid that might escape over the end of the wick-tube F, or over or around the interior cylinders, were, by any accident, or the raising of the lid 0 of the lamp, ignited, the fiame could not reach the cotton in the interior of the cylinder G, and there could not be any accident from such source. The lamp has been tested, and found to be proof against the common and fatal casualties of petroleum-burning lamps as heretofore made. H

Having thus fully described my'invention, What I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with an exterior jacket, or shell'and ube, or spout, an interior cylinder, E, and interior wick-tube F, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

Also, in combination with the exterior shell and tube, and the interior shell and tube, the inverted and removable cylinder G, for containing the supply of fluid, as herein described and represented: I j J. S. SOMMERVILLE.

\Vitnesses MAX LIVERIGHT, CHARLES Hnrron. 

